Horticulture

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Practice Facility

The practice facility is now open on the grass tee primarily on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the month of April and the majority of May. Tuesday through Thursday all practicing will occur on the new driving range mats, including the use of drivers.(Unless bag stands are set up on the turf).

I have been asked a few questions on the proper etiquette on divot removal on the grass tee. Below are a few pictures of divot patterns that are exhibited at HP. Ideally there are two divot patterns that allow for increased recuperation and the most efficient use of turf, they are: “scattered” and “lineal” divot patterns. The lineal divot pattern is a series of divots connected in a lineal fashion with a minimum of 2-3” of turf between each strip. This is the most ideal pattern allowing for a faster recovery time and the most efficient use of the hitting area. The creeping bentgrass left between the divots will grow horizontally, decreasing the amount of time for recovery.

﻿

Lineal Divot Pattern-Please Use

The scattered pattern is random, similar to the lineal pattern discussed above, it also has a minimum of 2-3” between each divot. Although the scattered pattern allows for a faster recovery time it is a less efficient use of space in the hitting area

Scattered Divot Pattern- OK

The third pattern is the concentrated divot pattern. This divot pattern does not allow for efficient recovery because there is no turf left in this large patch. All the recovery must be through the germination of seed, which can take 7-20 days depending on the weather conditions and the amount of traffic on the tee. This technique should be avoided.